Fireball Run goes through Watkins Glen

WATKINS GLEN—The eight day Fireball Run event stopped in Watkins Glen, Tuesday, Sept. 25, to help find missing and abducted children from across the country. Each Fireball Run team represents a missing child from their home region. The mission: distribute over a 1,000 posters during the 15 city, 2,500 mile drive, as an awareness campaign to aid in the recovery of that missing child. The event promotes Recover America’s Missing Children—the country’s largest and longest “active recovery effort” for missing and abducted children. Fireball Run has been broadcast live online since it started Sept. 22, in Independence, Ohio. It ends Saturday, Sept. 29, in Bangor, Maine. The 40 teams visited several locations in Watkins, including wineries, the Harbor Hotel, and Schooner Excursion. The teams also raced around the Watkins Glen International race track. The vehicles participating are as diverse as the participants —ranging from a Ford Focus to a semi. Onlookers saw exotic vehicles like Lamborghini Aventador, Ferrari, Fisker Karma and Devon GTX to iconic cars like the one from Back to the Future II, and the less-expected Crystal Springs Water Delivery Truck, Cannonball Run-like ambulance, and a semi-tractor trailer. Fireball Run teams are made up of business owners, corporate leaders, industry celebrities, and elected officials. The 2012 run features notable women as part of the cast, celebrating “women in professional sports” with Long Beach Grand Prix winner Shea Holbrook, Pro Wakeboard Champion Tarah Mikacich, Women’s Rodeo Champion Kelly Kaminski, and NHRA Super Comp drag racer Tina Stull, as well as professional Lumberjill “Timber Tina” Scheer of the Great Maine Lumberjack Show, Survivor, and Extreme Home Makeover. Other notable participants include NASA Shuttle Astronaut Jon McBride, international-renowned artist Laurence Gartel and the president of the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame. The national event and production is headquartered at Universal Studios Florida. Fans nationwide will be able to watch the race online on www.fireballrun.com/live until the end.